What the heck?"But Iwasn't. Iwouldn't."
"Yeah, well…they said it was a big secret."
Yeah, so secret thatIdidn't even know.My mouth tightened. "And you never thought to warn me?"
"Yeah, but…" He blew out a long breath and never did finish the thought.
"But what?" I persisted.
"They said you'd be fine. It was just your employees that had to go."
"Myemployees?" I sputtered. "I only had one.You."
"Yeah, but…they said it would go better for you if I left."
Nowthatwas an eye-roller. "What are you saying? You did it for me?"
"Notjustfor you." He looked down at his feet. "They really freaked me out, okay?" His voice caught. "They even threatened my mom."
I felt the blood drain from my face. "What? They said they'd hurt her?"
"No, not like that," he said. "They said they'd get her fired…you know from her job at the hospital."
Stupidly, I said, "The hospital?"
"Yeah, she works in billing."
By now, nearly all of my anger was gone. Trevor was just a college kid working for not much above minimum wage.Still, a warning would have been nice.
At the thought, I felt my body go utterly still.
Ihadbeen warned.
Just not by Trevor.
By Griff.
I gave Trevor a sharp look. "Wait a minute…how did you know the other guy quit?"
He glanced away. "What other guy?"
"Oh, come on.Griff. Don't tell me you don't know." Trevorhadto know. As of yesterday, Griff was still working at the shop. And news didn't travelthatfast, especially from here to the mainland.
Or did it?
Finally, Trevor said, "Yeah, well…Griff was the one who told me."
Holy crap."Seriously?"
"Yeah. And he promised me a bonus to come back."
I swallowed, hard. "A bonus?" I considered my bank account. Sure, I had that money from the sale of Shark Bike, but I'd already spent a bunch of it by writing a single check, made out to Montgomery Griffin for all of the hours he'd worked.
I couldn’t regret it.It was only right, which was the reason I'd left it on his rickety table on my way out the door. At the thought of everything that had happened, it made me want to cry – and not because of the money.
At something in my expression, Trevor quickly added, "Don't worry. It's not a bonus from you."
I wasn't following. "Sorry, what?"
